BAYANDA
15 .
KATLEGO
As much as I don’t want to admit it, the chances of Sipho being the one to break in Yanda’s house are so high right now. I’m thinking of so many things that could’ve lead him to do this and I’m connecting the dots. Sipho isn’t a child who must be told what to do everyday, he’s old enough and he should have known that whatever he did—would have consequences.
I’m at my step-dad and mother’s house, mom told me he’s here so I need to talk to him and also confirm if he’s the one who really did this. I’m not someone who loses their temper but I deeply care for my loved ones, Bayanda included. I come very far with Bayanda, I wouldn’t want anyone to hurt her just like that.
“So you think your brother would do something like this to the person he claims to love?” My step-dad asks, I nod. He knows very well that Sipho is a short tempered person so he can do anything wrong when he reacts really fast.
“You know how he is, I also didn’t want to admit it but as I’m connecting the dots, they lead me to him because he’s the only that has the spare keys to Yanda’s house, she has a really tight security plan so I don’t think anyone would break in that easily.” I say, sitting back—I’m not also a drinker, just give me a glass of water and I’m cool. I do drink, on special occasions though.
So for now, I’ll just watch my step-dad have whatever he is drinking while I have a glass of water.
“Let’s wait for him to come downstairs so we can hear what he has to say. So tell me, are you and Bayanda now in a relationship—since she has broken up with your brother?” He asks, I shake my head.
“We’re not in any relationship, we’re best friends. Why are you asking?” I ask him, he shakes his head.
“I mean, Sipho does love her so I don’t think you’d want to choose her over him.” He says, I frown a bit.
“If Sipho loved her then he wouldn’t have laid a hand on her, there are so many ways he could’ve approached this and he chose violence. Bayanda could have arrested him but she chose not to, so be grateful.” I say, I hear Sipho walk down the stairs—he probably has his headphones on because he’s singing out loudly, not singing but rapping.
I turn my head and glance at him, he raises his head and glances at me too. He heaves a sigh and takes off the headphones.
“What is it now?” He asks walking towards the table, he grabs a chair and throws himself on it.
“Katlego wants to ask you something and he wants you to be honest before this all gets out of hand. Will you cooperate?” My step-dad asks him, Sipho looks at me.
“Ask whatever you want to ask and leave, I don’t have time for you.” He says, as I said—I don’t have a short temper, I might get annoyed but I’d never lose my temper.
“Did you break into Bayanda’s house yesterday when she wasn’t home?” I ask him, he starts laughing. He has the face of someone who’s guilty.
“Are you kidding me?—why would I even want to break into Bayanda’s place? we’re not in any relationship, so what am I still angry for? you took her from me and I’ve accepted.” He says, he looks so proud, it’s disgusting me.
“Sipho, you are the only one who has access to Bayanda’s house. She gave you the spare keys and since you guys broke up, you never returned the keys. Why would anyone else break into her house when she has a tight security plan?” I ask him, he clenches his jaw and shakes his head.
“She told you all of that, huh? it must be nice to have someone telling you everything you want to say at any time. Well, even if I have the spare keys—I wouldn’t break in and damage her furniture and stupid things. I would simply walk in and go around the house naked, she gave me the keys at her own will—I never forced her.” He says, I smirk—Sipho needs to know I’m older and smarter than him.
“I never mentioned her furniture and her things being damaged. What are you talking about?” I ask him, I can see his grin slowly fading.
“Sipho, did you break into Bayanda’s place? please be honest..” My step-dad says. Sipho bangs the table and gets up.
“So what if I did? Bayanda broke my heart and I’m just reacting! she can’t be happy while I am getting miserable. I don’t care that I broke her things, I don’t even regret it.” He says, attempting to walk off. I get up and grab his arm, I should be punching him right now.
“The police van will be picking you up shortly. Have a great time in jail, perhaps a few days of being in jail will get you back to your senses.” I say walking off, I take my phone and notify the police. I don’t know how long he’s going to be in jail for but it has to be for a while—he committed a crime, he should be punished.
I find my mother in the garden, watering her plants. She hasn’t noticed me yet, I’m just standing here watching her—sometimes I wonder who Sipho takes after, because he definitely doesn’t take after my mother or his father. He’s so different from them and it’s scary.
“Hey Mom.” I say, she turns around and smiles.
“I didn’t see you there, how long have you been standing there for?” She asks me, placing the watering jar down. She walks to me and gives me a hug.
“A few minutes. Sipho broke into Bayanda’s house yesterday, I didn’t want to accuse him so I asked him and he admitted. So I wanted to ask if you have a problem with me getting him arrested because what he did is a crime.” I say, she heaves a sigh and shakes her head.
“Maybe he’ll learn his lesson, he has to be punished. So don’t worry yourself, this is the right thing to do—regardless of who he is to you, okay?” She says, I nod.
“Understood.” I say.
“How is Bayanda doing? I’m sure finding her house in a bad condition must’ve hurt her.” She says, it did hurt her—the furniture and everything else can be replaced but what about the one thing that was once a part of her life?
“The police have raided her house so she spent the night at my apartment. She was hurt, more hurt because of the wheelchair that he broke. She was keeping it and he broke it, that was a low blow from him.” I say, she nods multiple times.
“I hope she’s fine, you shouldn’t stay with her for too long though. I don’t trust you around her.” She says, I weirdly look at her—what does she mean?
“You don’t trust me around her? oh, mom come on. She trusts me eitherway.” I say, she chuckles.
“You might never want to let go of her to make up for the 14 years you missed. I’m scared of the door being locked when she’s supposed to leave.” She says, I want to roll my eyes so badly but I also don’t want to at the same time.
“I don’t hear a single thing that you are saying mom. I have to go back to work, Mbuso has a couple of things to do today so he can’t really pitch in. That leaves me in charge for everything.” I say, I don’t know what he’s suddenly busy with but he did promise to tell me when he’s ready.
“Oh, by the way. You know your dad’s birthday is coming in a week and I’m planning this nice birthday dinner for him, I want you to get him a nice gift. It can be costly but it also has to be priceless. Invite Bayanda as well, Mbuso can come too.” She says, I glance at her—inviting Bayanda would mean bringing trouble for her because Sipho will also be here, I don’t want that.
“I can’t invite Bayanda, Sipho will be here too—that’s if he’ll be out of jail. I don’t want trouble to fall upon her, his birthday shouldn’t be ruined too.” I say, she sighs.
“It would be nice to have her over but if you don’t want her to come then it’s okay, it’s probably in her best interest.” She says, I brush her shoulders.
“Let me go, you carry on with your gardening stuff. I’ll keep in touch.” I say, she nods.
“I’ll talk to Sipho before he gets taken away. He probably thinks we don’t care about him and that’s not true. We, however cannot let him make mistakes and then let him off the hook. He won’t learn that way.” She says, I nod. We all have those times when we mess up and we’re never let off the hook, we have a lesson to be taught—Sipho isn’t special, we all aren’t.
“You do that and I’ll leave. I love you.” I say hugging her and kissing her forehead.
“Bye..” She says, I walk off and head to my car. I unlock it and get in, it’s been a couple of hours since I last saw Bayanda and I’m dying.
I drive to the office, I’m surprised to see Mbuso’s car parked in the parking lot. I thought he said he won’t be able to pitch in today, I turn off my engine and get off the car. I walk inside, everyone’s working as per usual.
I walk to Mbuso’s office, I knock on the door first before entering. He’d kill me if I were to enter his office without knocking. He grants me access to come in and I open the door.
“You decided to come..” I say closing the door and walking to his desk. I pull out a chair and sit down.
“Yeah, the matter I was attending to wasn’t really long so I decided to come to work because sitting at home will drive me crazy.” He says, I nod.
“A lot seems to be happening in your life right now, as the person you have put under your wing—I worry about you, care to share?” I ask him, he sighs and turns his laptop over to me.
“This is what’s happening..” He says, that’s a picture of a child. Why is he showing me this?
“Who’s this?” I ask him, the child looks like him or maybe I’m just crazy.
“Kuhlekonke, she’s my daughter.” He says, I widen my eyes out of shock—he never mentioned he had a daughter, all this while?
“You have a daughter? how..I mean, you never mentioned her to anyone.” I say, I did say the child looks like him. That makes sense.
“I just found out I have a 3 year old daughter. I thought her mother had a miscarriege 3 years ago, but it turns out that she didn’t so she gave birth to our daughter.” He says, whoa.. that’s crazy.
“Oh, damn. So why didn’t she tell you about her in these last 3 years?” I ask him, he sighs.
“She thought I was dead all these years, she has been raising her as a single mother. My daughter has a heart defect, she has had it from birth due to complications with her mother’s pregnancy. This is just a lot to take in.” He says, he reminds me of the time he woke up in the hospital after that horrific accident he had.
“What happened with you and her?” I finally get to ask him, maybe this is the only chance I have to ask him.
“Alot, alot happened. Talking about it will just trigger me, Sbahle and I had a rough breakup.” He says, he just said her name—that’s the first I’ve ever heard the woman’s name.
“Okay, so now that you found out you have a daughter with her. Are you considering fixing things with her?” I ask him, that wasn’t a good question because he just shot a death stare at me.
“I should be punching you in your face right now, I’ve said this over and over again. I am not going to fix things with anyone, I am going to live my life—with my child now, I just don’t know how everything is going to work out because the mother hates me and I couldn’t care less. What happened in the past should stay in the past, there’s no space for fixing things. I believe we are better off apart, the only thing that ties us together is our child—nothing else.” He says, like he means it. I nod my head.
“I think you two should develop a good co-parenting relationship, there’s a child in between now and it would be best for both parents to get along well for the sake of your child.” I say, I’m talking like I have a child and I don’t—not that I know of.
“It’s not very easy when every second you glance her reminds you of your past. I don’t want to pay much attention to her, the main focus is Kuhlekonke.” He says, it must’ve went down with the both of them when they were still together—Mbuso clearly doesn’t want anything to do with her.
“It must’ve been tough for you both. It seems like you love her a lot.” I say, he frowns.
“Loved, that’s in the past. Why don’t we drop this whole topic and start working?” He asks me, I sigh and nod.
“She’s cute though, your daughter is cute.” I say, he nods and shifts his attention to the laptop.
—
I looked forward to going to my apartment after a long day. It’s not normally like this but because my best friend is here then I couldn’t wait for this day to be over so I can finally go back. I just parked my car in the garage, I jump off and walk inside. It’s in the evening right and she cooked, I could smell her food from the inside of my car.
I open the door and walk inside, damn—it smells so good. I look around, why was I expecting to find it messy? I’m not OCD but I like having a clean space, I’m also not saying that she’s messy—she’s just a girl after all, don’t come for me.
“You’re back, you’ve been standing there for a while now.” She says coming from the bedrooms. I believe when God was handing out beauty—Bayanda was given extra beauty, how is it that she’s glowing at this time of the night.
“I’m thinking of a lot.” I say heaving a sigh and closing the door. I place my stuff right by the door, I’m honestly tired.
“You look tired, why don’t you sit down so I can dish up for you? I made some samp and stew.” She says, I nod.
“I just want to freshen up, I’ll be back.” I say, she nods. I walk to the bedroom, it has a bathroom intertwined with it.
—
Once I’m done taking my shower, I slide into my casual clothes and sleepers. I walk out, going to the lounge area. It never smells this good in my apartment, this is a new scent.
“Your food is over here, let me just pour you some drink.” She says, grabbing a bottle of wine—oh no..
“Juice is fine, I’m not having wine at this hour.” I say, she nods and opens the fridge. She keeps humming and singing, she’s in her own world. She walks towards me holding the plate and glass, I thank her after taking the food and placing the glass on the table.
“Can you talk while you’re eating? I want to ask you something.” She says sitting besides me, I nod.
“Carry on..” I say.
“Your friend or whatever he is to you, Mbuso. You know he came by the hospital with Sbahle, the mother of the child I’m taking care of. Did you know he has a daughter?” She asks me, let me just nod and say I always knew.
“Yeah, why?” I ask her, she sighs.
“Things were so tense between him and Sbahle. It was as if they had shared a really dark past before. When the other one would say something, the other would also add something and it would be a mess. I wanted to run out of the ward, it felt like they wanted to murder each other in that moment.” She says, I sigh—whatever those two shared really hurt them.
“I don’t know the reason for their break up but it was bad. I didn’t want to mention this to him over and over again but 3 years ago, I saved Mbuso from an accident I believe he caused. People kept saying he jumped infront of a truck, he just said it was an accident but that isn’t true.” I say, she opens her mouth in shock.
“He jumped infront of a truck?! Katlego!” She says after hitting my shoulder, I glance at her and laugh.
“You need to stop being such a news lover, it doesn’t suit you.” I say eating my food, she shakes her head.
“So there might have been a chance that he tried killing himself after they broke up?! that’s so messed up, what kind of love compiles you to kill yourself?” She asks, I shrug.
“I don’t know, I never want to ask him about that day because he gets angry. He has a very short temper, I’m scared of him too because he’s older than me, in age—mentally and physically too.” I say, she claps her hands once.
“I wish you could tell me more but let me let you eat, I should stop talking about other people.” She says grabbing her phone.
“Sipho is the one who broke into your house, I’m gonna ask you to relax because he’s arrested as we speak.” I say, she heaves a sigh.
“Okay.” That’s all she says, before silence takes over. I finish eating, within minutes—because the food is that good. I just washed my plate, my bed is calling my name right now.
“So when did they say my house will be ready for me to go back?” She asks me, I shrug.
“I’m not sure, I’ll ask them and get back to you. You already want to leave?” I ask her, she shakes her head.
“I’m just asking, nothing much.” She says, when she taps her fingers—she’s getting nervous, I know my best friend okay?
“So you don’t want to leave?” I ask her, she rolls her eyes.
“You need to stop making me uncomfortable, I’m shaking because of you.” She says, attempting to walk off.
“We haven’t talked about the kiss, can you wait?” I ask her, she stops on her tracks and turns around.
“What about it?” She asks me, I heave a sigh—there’s nothing to be scared of, telling her would make me feel so relieved. Now it seems as if I’m shy and I’m not.
“Come here..” I say, she looks like she’s about to collapse. She can’t run anywhere else, we’re in the same space together. She walks back to me, maintaining a five feet distance from me.
“Closer..” I say, she takes a deep breath and steps closer. When her scent hits me, I know she’s close. I feel like a fool right now for being shy, I grab her arm—slowly pulling her towards me. Once she’s close enough, I wrap my arms around her waist.
“Katlego, what are we doing?” She asks, how can I even answer that?
“Loving each other..” I say, grabbing her neck and smashing my lips onto hers—they’re shaking, she’ll relax. Her hand travels on my chest, she’s breathing heavily and that’s a “huge” problem for me and my emotions.
I pick her up, placing her on the counter. She’s starting to respond, her lips are soft—sweet and tender at the same time. I thank my mother for taking me to that school 14 years ago, if she didn’t then I would’ve never met Bayanda.